Pottery-making method



April 10, 1928.

y Y A. E. RADFORD POTTERY MAKING METHOD Filed Oct. 1, 1923 V FIG. I.

Fla. 3.

17- E. 800F080 mvsm-on ATTORNEY "Patented Apia 10, 19.28,

B N T T rifts.

it TE it?" I I ALBERT E. nenronn, orinnw' CASTLE, rENitsYnvAnrm I I i torrent-MAKING nrnon. I

Application filed-'petober 1,1923. ser ainolceao ilf v 1 "This invention relates to pottery, and more particularly to a pottery making method One of the main objects of the invention 1s *to provide a simple and highly efiicient method for decorating pottery in i such: va

manner as to produce a noveland pleasing 'eiiect. Another object is to provide a method whereby any desired number'ofcolors may be'used in such a manner as'to produce a marbled appearance, the colors being applied vin such manner that no two articles will have the same design even though the general color "scheme is the-same. 'Thefreiis a greatd'em'and in 'th'e' pottery trade rorqnsw and artistic "designs" or color schemes for jorna mentin'g articles of pottery and it islvery V desirable, where these designs are unique-orunusually attractive, that "no-two articles; having the identical design be produced f Heretofore, no practical, method has-been known whereby .any desired numberibf articles h'a'vingthe same general color scheme of ornamentation could be, produced without the'possibility of duplication'of designs. By my method it-is possible to'faccomplishthis very desirable result, as will appear from the .follo'wing descriptiom To assist in describing my invention I have illustrated the simplest method of its v the accompanying drawings,

application in in which Fig. 1 is a sectional View through a mould and a'cup in the mold cavity, partly'broken away, illustrating the practical application of my method;

Fig. 2 is an elevation of a cup ornamentedin accordance with my method; y

' Fig. 3 is anelevat-ion of a second cup ornamented in accordance with myxmethod.

In practicing my method in itssimplest form. I employ a plaster of Paris mold A provided with a recess suitablyfl shaped toproduce the cup 1. If it is desired to pros duce a design of two colors, I knead together two pieces of clav of two colors,as brown and white. one of which, in this particular instance the brown one, corresponds to the clay of which the cup is made. pieces of clay are mixedsuflicientlv to produce a mass which is streaked with the two different colors which remain separate and Y distinct from each other, care being taken not to knead ormix the clays sufliciently to destroy or obliterate their individual colors.

After the clay has been mixed sufiicientlyI 1 moisten my index finger and thumb;

The twopinch oil a smallliu'antityi ofthe mi xed clays which I rub or smear over the inner faceyof-a the cavityga of mold I: repeat this operat on until the cavity. a is? provided with: a' thin layer or coating, 2, composed of the two been applied the-mixture o f'pwa-ter and clay from whichtthe article .11 istto beformed," or g the su as it is termed, is poured into the 51f imol d cavityf After the sli has sct tb the desired thickness, the". remaining or, unset port] on of the ,slip is poured from the mold" leaving-the article orcupll. The-mold isfset aside and thecup is permitted to set and :dry -Q thoroughly. When *thel.slip'lis pouredv into themold the. moisture of; the fslip; pene- ,trates layer 2,'so that-thisIlayeriibecomes united with' and an integral part of cupl.

.or'an unglazed finish as desired.-

WAS thecup driesit' shrinks away from the walls of the mold carrying.with it the layer s v =2. fwhich, as" stated, becomes an integral part ofthe cup." Afterthegcupis dry'it is re t moved from the mold and-fired in a known manne'r, and it may be given eitherfa -',g-lazed'- v covering" or layer2, of differently coloredvv H y Y clays. thiscoatinsz having the appearance of marble and producine' a very artistic and neat and attractive eifect in ,whichthe two clays are comminrzled so-as to produce vary:

ing' shades of brown and cream, and are streaked in such manneras to closely simulate marble; A While. I'have'f mentioned the use .of brown? and white clays, I' can use 4 clays-.ofany desired colors and may employ" any desired number, of different-Y colors] Also.-I can obtain verv satisfactorv results.

by coating portions only of the mold cavity with clay of one color-which is different from the color'iof the clay used in the sli from which the article is cast; though on dinarilyIprefer to use clays of two or more colors. As the-coating 2, is rubbed on the. .walls of the mold'cavity by hand, and the relative amounts offidifl'er-ently colored clays pinched from the claymixture will necessar ily vary each time, it is impossible to produce two articles having-identical designs *or color schemes, even though a great number of articles be. ornamented with clays taken from thesame batch or mixture This will be clear from Figures and in which I have illustrated two cups ornamented from the same batch of brown and White clays. Though these cups have the same general color schemein'that they are both ornamented in brown and White, there is a very distinct and noticeable difference in their appearance. This diiference'is even more noticeable in thearticlesthemselves as v it is impossible to illustrate the Various shades and color effects produced by. my method.

I am aware that pottery has been dec orated bypainting with clay of a different color than the article itself, portions of a patternor design formed in asectional mold. By this method, however, the design is the same for each article made in this particular mold and the general colorscheme of the body of thearticle is in no Way affected so that-a marbled effect is not possible. By my method, on the contrary, a very beautiful and-pronounced marbled effect is produced a and the particular design or color scheme of eacharticle individualand different from the particular color scheme of every other article even though a great number of arti- .cles are made in the same mold and have the same general color. scheme in that they are ornamented with'clay taken from the same mix or batch. For this reason, my method 1s of great practlcal value and utility in the pottery art, and 'ithas the great advantage that it can be readily practiced Without any increasein the cost of produce tion.

While I prefer to mix the differently pinched off of each color of clay, the several quantities thus obtained being simultaneously smeared over the forming surface of the mold. Both of these methods are obvious variations of the preferred form of my invention and are to be considered as included therein. AlSO,'Wl1ll6 Ihave described my invention as applied to cups, it can be equally ell applied to articles of pottery of varioussizes and shapes, as will be under- ;stood.

What I claim is:

, A method of decorating pottery consisting I ',l11 kneading together a plurality of masses of plastic clay to effect a streaked mass in which the colors are still distinct, detaching part ofthe kneaded mass,applying to an absorbent mold, distributing to a smooth film,repeating the operation until adesired film isobtained, applying a slip to increase the Wall thickness, drying to free from the mold, and firing, whereby When fired a mottled elfectof any desired fineness of grain may be; effected;

ALBERT E. RADFORD.

Intestimony whereof I aflix my signature. 

